There were several college and university theater programs that helped lay the ground work for the success of theater arts in Colorado. The University of Denver’s Margery Reed Hall was the original home of the Denver Civic Theatre from 1929 to 1953. They moved into The Bonfils Memorial Theatre on East Colfax Ave. at Elizabeth St. with their season opener, “Green Grow the Lilacs” in October, 1953.
There were also marvelous theater programs at the now defunct Loretto Heights College, located in Southwest Denver, and Colorado Women’s College, located in East Central Denver. Both of those schools supported the performing arts sufficiently to merit the construction of stand-alone performing arts spaces. May Bonfils-Stanton and other donors built the Theater Building at Loretto Heights College. Colorado Women’s College built the Houston Fine Arts Center, which is currently owned by Denver Public Schools and houses the Denver School of the Arts.
